Cursed (Book # 3 of Hunted)

White Witch Program

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and a grin broke across Zane's face.

"Did someone order takeout?" he asked starting towards the door. Keegan hooked his finger around a belt loop on the back of Zane's shorts and jerked him backward.

Phoebe and I exchanged a look and then started towards the front door. Phoebe stood up on her toes to peer through the peephole and she groaned.

"Who is it?" I asked and a pained grin spread across her face as she replied, "My parents." My eyes widened and I glanced back down the hall. Keegan and Zane were nowhere in sight. I glanced at Phoebe and after a moment of consideration, I nodded. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Phoebe!" her mother exclaimed rushing forward to embrace her daughter.

"Hi, mom!" Phoebe choked out in surprise. Her father stood a few feet back on the first step leading up to my door. Mrs. Hallman finally pulled away from her daughter and said, "Why didn't you tell us you applied for Eugene Prep?" Phoebe's eyes bugged out of her head and she looked from her mother's beaming face to her father's slightly less scowly scowl. She shook her head and began, "I didn't—"

"We just got the acceptance letter in the mail! They said you received a scholarship that will pay for everything you need including room and board. Oh, I'm so happy for you, sweetie!" she exclaimed throwing her arms around Phoebe once more. She sent a frantic glance at me and I just shook my head.

Once Phoebe regained her ability to speak and her mother let go of her, she turned to look at her father. He glanced away from her and muttered, "I don't know how you got a full ride with your grades being as abysmally average as they are." Phoebe's eyes narrowed and I saw a muscle in her jaw twitch. He finally met her gaze and continued, "But however you did it, I'm proud of you." He smiled awkwardly and Phoebe blinked in surprise.

He held out an envelope and she hesitantly took it. She opened it and pulled out a piece of paper. I looked at it with her and my breath caught in my throat at the sight of the crest at the head of the letter. Blue and red with a knight's helmet at the top. It was split into three sections by an X with a diamond on top. The Death Rune. The mark of the Hunter.

Before our very eyes, the words in the letter shifted, skittering across the paper as if the inky marks were living things. The message changed so that instead of saying Phoebe had been accepted to The Eugene School for College Readiness, it said:

Miss Phoebe A. Hallman,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the White Witch program at the Northwestern branch of the Hunter Academy.

Her mouth fell open and her mother squealed. I stared at the letter in complete shock. Did this mean what I thought it meant? Phoebe suddenly tackled me in a hug and cried, "I'm going with you!" Her parents both looked at me and I smiled nervously.

"You're going too?" Mr. Hallman asked, and I nodded slowly glancing almost unnoticeably back down the hall. The sun was beginning to set. Mrs. Hallman grinned and asked, "Why don't we all go out to dinner to celebrate?" She looked at me and added, "You too, Lori. I wanted to thank you for being such a good friend to my little girl."

"That's really nice of you," I said my gaze shifting from Mrs. Hallman to her husband. "But I actually have company right now." They glanced at the black Audi R8 parked on the side of the road in front of my house.

"Yeah, and I already ate. Maybe tom—" Phoebe began when we heard a crash from inside my house. I flinched. They stared at us and I felt my face burn.

"You know what, Pheebs. Why don't you hang out with your parents for a bit? Go get dessert or something," I said my eyes falling to the dried blood still staining her arm. Now that Zane was loose, this wasn't a safe place for her. Even if he was only pretending to be a psycho, he was still dangerous. Her brow creased and she said, "But—"

"That's a great idea! I just got an email from that Thai ice cream place by the mall yesterday. They're doing buy one get one Wednesday after 4 pm. We should go!" her mom exclaimed, a bright smile on her face. Phoebe looked from her mom to me and then glanced back into the house where we again heard the sound of something breaking.

"Are you sure?" she asked, and I nodded grinning encouragement. She turned back to her parents and said, "Alright, let's go." Her mother squealed and clapped her hands slinging her arm around her daughter's shoulders and steering her out of my house and down the front steps.

I watched them for a moment as they walked down the street back to Phoebe's house three doors down on the opposite side of the street, then I rushed back into the house, slamming the door shut behind me.